The Great Garlic Cookoff 2013 – From the Other Side of the Stove (Picture Tease!)

I got home later than expected tonight. My good friend and guest at the cookoff, Lisa, and I made a couple of pit stops along the way, turning a 6 hour drive home down the coast into an 11-hour quirky road trip. Seriously, though, who can resist wine tasting when driving through Paso Robles? Or salty-sweet cookies from the Brown Butter Cookie Company and perfectly smoked albacore from Ruddell’s Smokehouse when passing through Cayucos? And I think we spent an hour driving around Salinas this morning looking for a Starbucks . . . (Note: the “Find a Starbucks” app needs work). And then there was the L.A. traffic. To top off the longest day in traffic ever, I came home to the Hubs flat on his back all honked up on pain meds. He threw his back out playing racquetball this morning. It’s not the first time. I’m sure it won’t be the last. (I think it was karma for his snarky comment about my Twitter feed–he disagrees.) This is going to be a fun week!

Back to all things GARLIC. I’m working on a post for tomorrow summarizing all of the excitement from the cookoff stage. In the meantime, check out some of the pics of the action.

Great photo teasers! Loved seeing my cousins! Can’t wait for your ‘diary’ of the weekend. So glad you and Lisa had a wonderful road trip…Bates Motel and all! I’m now calling you two ‘Thelma and Louise.’

Great post! Love all the pix! I’m pretty sure the Starbucks app wasn’t the culprit, but rather the direction-challenged person operating it! LOL A long day for sure, but lots of fun. The entire trip was a blast. Thank you so much for inviting me! xx

Here’s a tip for finding Starbucks: Use the Google Maps app, and in the search bar, type “Starbucks” – it will use your location and find the nearest ones, and then you can use the app either to get directions or to navigate you there. 🙂

Thank you! It was really fun. And I think they enjoyed having someone covering the action from a competitive standpoint. BTW, my post probably won’t be ready until tomorrow . . . so much going on on this Manic Monday!

Thank you, Erin! I wish we could have visited more, too. I’m so amazed (and inspired) at how hard all of the volunteers work at the Festival and the Cookoff. You guys rock! And I’m so glad you like the blog! Let’s keep in touch!

Welcome to Live, Laugh, Cook, Eat!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm so glad you're here! I'm having fun cooking and sharing recipes, along with the stories behind them. I'm an award winning competitive cook, as well, and I love telling tales about my adventures traveling the world in search of the best food, winning recipes and sharing a meal or two with the people I love. Cheers!